Saab, which has suspended car production, has tens of millions of crowns in unpaid bills, the head of a Swedish suppliers organization said.
“I don’t know how much it is in total, but we are talking about tens of millions [of crowns],” Svenake Berglie, CEO of the FKG suppliers’ sector association, told Reuters.
Saab’s production line in Sweden remained idle for a third day after it failed to pay some suppliers’ bills, with the production stop set to continue.
Saab, which could not immediately be reached for a comment, has said it is holding talks with suppliers to sort out a liquidity squeeze that has disrupted production.
The problems at the carmaker have given rise to media speculation in its native Sweden about Saab’s survival, just over a year since it was saved from closure when Spyker Cars NV bought the brand from General Motors Co.
Overdue bills
Berglie said talks between the company and suppliers were not about arranging new credit terms, but were about getting Saab to pay overdue bills.
“There is a perception in the media that there are discussions on extended credit times and such. But it is not about that, it is about the fact that Saab must pay its bills,” he said.
Berglie said Saab was working to sort out its financial difficulties, but he was worried about the company’s future.
“If they cannot sort out their financial situation, things look very bleak,” he said.
New stake
A union official at Saab’s Trollhaettan plant in southwest Sweden said on Wednesday that workers there had been given the rest of the working week off.
Spyker has called the problems a short-term glitch. It is pinning its hopes on Russian financier and former Spyker shareholder Vladimir Antonov, who has applied to Sweden’s Debt Office for permission to own a stake in Spyker and says he has 50 million euros ($71.5 million) to invest.
Sweden has guaranteed a 400 million euro loan to Saab from the European Investment Bank, giving it a veto over who can own shares in Saab.
